Definitive sockets for fitting prostheses to residual limbs of amputees are made by various processes in accordance with prior art techniques, including molding thermosetting, thermoforming or other known resinous materials to obtain a final rigid socket shape that will receive a residual limb and structurally react loads between the prosthesis and the residual limb without discomfort to the user. Such molded sockets without and with reinforcements are exemplified in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,163,965, granted Nov. 17, 1992 to Rasmusson and Fischl; and 5,263,990, granted Nov. 23, 1993 to Handal, respectively.
In accordance with a well known technique for molding definitive sockets of resinous materials, a male or positive mold of the residual limb area is made from a plaster of paris female or negative casting sleeve that has been formed by molding the sleeve directly against the residual limb, sometimes with the aid of a known pressure casting system of the type exemplified by the ICECAST.TM. system made by Ossur h.f. of Reykjavik, Iceland. The positive mold is then adjusted or "rectified" in accordance with well known techniques to provide relief for sensitive areas of the residual limb and to obtain a correctly sized socket that will properly fit the residual limb. The multiple step molding and rectification process is well known and has been extensively described in literature and texts known to prosthetists. The process is time-consuming, expensive and heavily dependent on the individual skills of the prosthetist.
Other procedures for molding interim or definitive sockets have been described in the prior art, including a procedure whereby SCOTCHCAST.RTM. tape made by 3M Company of Minneapolis, Minn., has been utilized to produce an interim prosthesis socket for below-knee amputees. The SCOTCHCAST.RTM. tape was wrapped directly over the residual limb after a tube sock was applied to the residual limb and manual compressive pressure was applied to the SCOTCHCAST.RTM. tape while it was curing to a hardened condition to provide relief for the patellar tendon area to form a PTB bar and to control the anterior-posterior diameter for weight bearing. (Wu et al., "SCOTCHCAST.RTM. P.V.C. Interim Prosthesis for Below-Knee Amputees", Bulletin of Prosthetics Research 10-36, Fall 1981, pp. 40-45). This process, however, has not been reported as being suitable for forming definitive prosthesis sockets suitable for continuous long-term use.